Join Us

We aspire to maintain and define standards of excellence in family law, starting with our pupils.

Pupillage & Third Six Pupillage

Applications for a 12-month pupillage at FOURTEEN are made via the Pupillage Gateway. This year the submissions window for applications opens on 8th January 2018 and closes on 7th February 2018, interviews will be conducted February-April 2018 and offers will be made on 3rd May 2018.

Why Us?

FOURTEEN is a leading specialist family law set with a national reputation. We undertake high quality work for a wide client base, which includes private client and legal aid solicitors, large city firms and local authorities. We have occupied a prominent position in the London legal market for many years.

We have consistently been recognised as a leading family law set in legal guides. Chambers and Partners commented that we have a ‘strong showing in children work’ and ‘established matrimonial and Court of Protection practitioners’, Legal 500 describe FOURTEEN as ‘a dynamic and forward-thinking set’ and ‘an impressive set with a wide skill-set’. We are noted for members who are ‘very personable on a human level and not at all stuck up’. We boast a long list of ranked juniors with experience at every level.

We have dedicated practice teams for children, family finance, Court of Protection and international family law. Many of our members are public access qualified and some undertake mediation and arbitration. A number of our former members now have senior judicial posts.

Pupillage at FOURTEEN is a fulfilling and fun whilst preparing you for a life at the family bar. We offer one 12 month pupillage each year. Our pupils have the opportunity to see all the areas practiced by a family barrister. Each pupil will have three pupil supervisors during their year and will be expected to accompany other members of chambers to Court on a regular basis.

FOURTEEN provides pupils with comprehensive training before starting on their feet in the second six months. This includes advocacy exercises, practice skeleton arguments and practice in client conferences.

For 2019 the award will be £26,000, which is all paid in the first six months. All pupils will retain all their earnings in the second six months which has been approximately £12,500 in the last three years. We also fund any training a pupil has to undertake.

Pupillage Testimonials

Madeleine Whelan, current pupil:

I am currently a pupil with FOURTEEN. Pupillage at FOURTEEN so far has been incredibly supportive, with many members of chambers going out of their way to ask me how I’m getting on and to offer advice and help should I need it. Being the only pupil means it is an experience that can be tailored to my personal learning and development and allows me a unique degree of flexibility. My supervisor is measured, responsive and incredibly knowledgeable and I have certainly learnt more about the family bar in the last 4 weeks in chambers than in 4 years of law school, which is a testament to FOURTEEN’s commitment to making the pupillage experience as educational and beneficial as possible. Pupillage can be a difficult and tiring journey, but having such a positive experience has made the transition from study to practice so much easier and I am looking forward to many more fantastic experiences with FOURTEEN.

Grace Garrett-Sadler, new tenant:

The transition from pupillage to tenancy at FOURTEEN was seamless. I enjoyed an extremely diverse and busy practice throughout my second six with FOURTEEN, particularly in the last few months, and as a result I felt completely ready to go to Court on the first Monday of October as a tenant. I spent my last week of pupillage and first two weeks of tenancy as junior counsel acting for a mother in Public law proceedings in a case concerning fabricated or induced illness, so I really hit the ground running. Although no longer formally supervised, members of chambers are as willing to answer my questions now as they were during pupillage and remain genuinely interested in my workload.

Who Should Apply?

We are looking for exceptional candidates who are committed to a career at the family bar. You should be able to demonstrate a high level of motivation and academic ability (at least a 2.1 degree) and have excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

FOURTEEN is currently looking to recruit a Third Six pupil. We welcome applications in writing – to include a CV and covering letter – addressed to the Pupillage Committee. Applications can be submitted by email.

Tenancy

FOURTEEN has long held a prominent position in the London legal marketplace as a leading, specialist family law set.

We are always interested in attracting excellent advocates who specialise in our fields of practice. FOURTEEN treats all applications in the strictest of confidence and aims to implement a smooth transition for those who are successful in joining us.

Mini Pupillage

A) Application information

Fourteen will be accepting 12 new mini-pupils from 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018. The mini pupillages will be offered four times per year – March, June, September and December, with Chambers hosting three mini-pupils at the same time. The mini-pupillages will be offered for a period of three days.

The application procedure commencing from 1 January 2018 will be:

Window for applications for a mini-pupillage in March 2018 is 1-31 January 2018;

Window for applications for a mini-pupillage in June 2018 is 1-30 April 2018;

Window for applications for a mini-pupillage in September 2018 is 1-31 July 2018;

Window for applications for a mini-pupillage in December 2018 is 1-31 October 2018;

In special circumstances, Chambers will endeavour to accommodate mini-pupils outside of these windows.

“Identify a Law that you would change. In no more than 500 words please explain why and how you would change it?”

The essay will be marked using the following criteria:

Task achievement /10

Coherence and cohesion /10

Lexical resources /10

Grammatical range and accuracy /10

Persuasiveness of argument /10 Total /50

Chambers will retain a copy of the essay for no more than 12 months. A record of the mark awarded will be kept for no more than for 5 years after the application. Applicants’ attention is drawn to the fact that Chambers may consider the contents of any mini-pupillage application in respect of any future application for pupillage with FOURTEEN.

Cover Letter and CV

The cover letter should be one A4 side or less. It is simply to serve as a brief introduction and to explain why you wish to apply to Chambers.

Your cv should be up to date and, ideally, limited to two sides of A4.

C) Feedback

At the end of your mini-pupillage you will be asked to provide feedback of your experience with Chambers. This will be by way of a questionnaire which will be retained for the purpose of collecting data to enable Chambers to improve the service that we offer.

At the end of your mini-pupillage, the Members of Chambers that you have followed will be asked to provide feedback in respect of your performance as a mini-pupil.

Applicants’ attention is drawn to the fact that Chambers may consider the contents of the feedback arising from any mini-pupillage with Chambers in respect of any future application for pupillage with FOURTEEN.

Staff

FOURTEEN periodically looks to recruit dynamic individuals to join our excellent staff. Any vacancies will be posted here but please click here if you require further information.